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Football finishes season with 44-7 road loss; ends on six-game skid

After a 2-0 start, the HRV football team have dropped their final six games of the season, including their most recent loss to Summit on the road 44-7.

The loss moved the Eagles to 1-6 in league play and end the 2017 season in sixth place in the division. The 2-6 overall record, with wins over St. Helens and Ridgeview earlier in the season, earn them a final OSAA ranking of 25th overall.

Against Summit last Friday night, HRV suffered a large deficit early on that would be too much to overcome.

The Storm would score 44 points before the Eagles put any points on the board, with their first score coming early on in the first quarter.

Only four minutes into the game, a trick play was run by the Storm’s offense which resulted in a four-yard touchdown pass from wide receiver Ben Graziani to fellow wide receiver Konrad Collins.

But after this stunt by Graziani, starting quarterback Henry Bledsoe for the Storm would torch the Eagles’ defense.

In the second quarter Bledsoe, added a four-yard touchdown run and a 14-yard passing touchdown to extend the lead to 21-0, Summit.

The Eagles struggled to come up with any response.

Once again, the Eagles rushing attack was virtually non-existent and it forced HRV to put the ball through the air, which resulted in quarterback Caden Leiblein being picked off twice in the game.

After a field goal to end the first half, it was a 24-0 game in favor of the Storm.

And this would only be the beginning of what would be even a longer second half for the Eagles’ defense.

After HRV’s offense was forced off the field in the start of the third, Summit would go on and score a three-yard rushing touchdown.

Upon the score, the Eagles offense was forced off the field once again and it would result in another rushing touchdown for Summit, this time a one-yard gain.

Both of these scores came within two minutes of one another.

And after an 11-yard passing touchdown by Summit late in the third, the Storm would quiet down.

The score 44-0 at the start of the fourth, HRV managed to put together a scoring drive with six minutes of time left on the game clock.

A 10-yard passing touchdown from Leiblein to receiver Christian Zack would wipe the zero off the board for the Eagles and make the final score 44-7.

The only offense for the night came from Leiblein, who despite the two interceptions, had 185 yards and one touchdown on 20 of 34 pass attempts.

The Eagles only totaled 28 rushing yards as a team, with their leader being Patrick Estes with three rushes for 10 yards.

Eagle receivers totalled 185 yards through the air with big games from Tanner Wells, Trenton Hough and Zack.

Wells led the team with 73 total yards and a long of 33 on four receptions.

Hough pulled in four receptions as well for a total of 40 yards and a long of 20.

And Zack pulled away the lone Eagles’ touchdown along with 21 yards on two receptions.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Eagles allowed 311 passing yards, 122 rushing yards and six total touchdowns.

Hough, linebacker on the defensive side of the ball, led the team with two tackles, 1.5 sacks, and 1.5 tackles for loss. On defense, the Eagles were also able to force and recover two fumbles, one of the only bright spots from this game.

The Eagles’ season finally comes to an end, and after a 2-0 start that turned the heads of most, was unable to figure it out following the good start, although this season was an improvement from their 2016 campaign, when they went 0-9.

And looking forward to next season, the Eagles have a chance to improve with a few of their key players eligible to return for another season.

Headlining those list of players is the starting quarterback Leiblein, who will be a senior next year. Brandon Rivera, an impactful player on both sides of the ball at the halfback and linebacker position will be an advantage this team has in the upcoming season. Linebacker Beto Rojas also will be a senior in the 2018 season and will help to form a strong linebacker core next year.

But the Eagles football team will have to go on without seniors Michael Jones, Hough, Brycen Polzel, Adrian Ramirez, Wells, Wade Pickering, Luke Harter, Adam Harter, Patrick Estes, Jason Shaner and Cade Parker.

Rushing statistics: Jones, 115 rushes for 493 total yards and four touchdowns; Rivera, 31 rushes for 189 yards and two touchdowns; Bailey Holste, 36 rushing attempts for 152 yards and two touchdowns.

Receiving statistics: Wells, 26 receptions for 276 yards and two touchdowns; Greyson Losee, 203 yards and three touchdowns on six receptions; Jones, 185 yards and two touchdowns on 15 receptions; Hough, 10 receptions for 93 yards and a touchdown.

Defensive statistics: Estes led the way with 17 solo-tackles and three tackles for loss; Hough, 12 tackles, 2.5 sacks and six tackles for loss; Beto Rojas, nine tackles, five sacks, and 0.5 tackles for loss.